How to Use Social Technology and Triggers to Form Sun Protection Habits

1. Introduction
spf stalker
How to Use Social Technology and Triggers
to Form Sun Protection Habits
Stephanie Carter & Yin Yin Wu
habits.stanford.edu . April 17-May 2, 2010

2. Phase 1 (of 2):
Selecting a good user & creating a powerful trigger
Encourage ten college students living in the same
dorm to develop the habit of wearing SPF lip balm
Students were selected because they were motivated to wear SPF lip balm as
long as it was simple, which in this case primarily meant that it had to be
provided. They are all on facebook, providing a technology medium for
triggers. They are all in a common social network and therefore influence each
other’s daily habits and behaviors.

3. Phase 1
Technology: Tag participants in funny, personal
facebook images that will remind them to wear SPF lip balm.
Why this way? At the least, facebook tagging gets
100% of those tagged to click through and view the image.
Every additional time the user is tagged, s/he sees the set
of photos with SPF lip balm imagery. Regardless of the
user’s feelings towards the campaign, the passive visual
reminder is a light-hearted and consistent reminder of what
to do.
3

4. Phase 1
Users are tagged in
iconic and personally
relevant images in
which SPF lip balm
has been inserted

5. Phase 1
Findings, Part 1:
Unusual images are memorable
I love t
he
betwee contrast
nt
lip balm he pink
a
black/w nd
hite im
-Daphn age
e
Som
are e of t
h
ima so rid e pict
ic u
ver ges ar ulous res
yw ea
ell rtis . The
-Li done! tically
lly

6. Phase 1
Findings, Part 2: Odd images can lose people
Don’t make
me unfriend
you…
Is there a
subliminal
message for me
to exercise?
Pressure to be cool:
de-tagging from images

7. Phase 1
What worked
People vividly remember the funny lip balm imagery
Product placement
Facebook newsfeed alerts friends, creates social
pressure
What didn’t work
Facebook tagging time of day did not always correlate
with a good time to apply lip balm
‣ a more timely trigger is needed
Many people don’t get facebook notification emails so
the response to photo tagging was not instant
‣ a physical reminder is needed for when the
reminder is not present

8. Phase 2 (of 2): Improving the trigger
Introducing gum/mints, the action triggers

9. Phase 2
Technology: Develop an association between gum/mints
and SPF lip balm by taping lip balm to packets of gum/mints
Why this way? During the day, after eating, many
people pop in some gum or mints. Daytime is the proper time
to trigger SPF lip balm application, and after meals, people are
more willing to put something with flavor on their lips. The
attachment of the item to be used (the SPF lip balm) to a
physical trigger (the gum/mints) is training wheels for habit
formation. Eventually, the user will naturally apply SPF lip
balm after meals or whenever they chew gum or eat mints,
even though it is not physically attached to the gum/mints.

10. Phase 2
Findings Part 1:
Funny and tasteful online
triggers that ask an easy
question have a low barrier
to entry and will generate
discussion

11. Phase 2
Findings Part 2:
Online Triggers are hard to avoid and their redundancy
serves as a frequent and constant reminder

12. Conclusion: User feedback, future compliance,
next steps, summary
What were your impressions of spf stalker?
“I felt guilty whenever I didn’t wear SPF lip balm
because I would see all these updates on facebook
reminding me that my friends are wearing lip balm”
“I normally don’t wear lip balm, but I now wear it 3-4
times a week. It’s hard to ignore the message when
you see it everyone on facebook”
“I love to chew gum- and you can’t ignore the lip balm
when it’s on the gum package”

13. Responses Conclusion
Will you continue wearing SPF lip balm?
“I probably won’t continue Yes
6
because I don’t like the taste”
3 Maybe
1 No
“It’s easy”
“It’s still
attached to
my gum”
“My lips feel
better… and I’m
used to putting it
on whenever I
take out my
TARGET THE “MAYBES” gum”
IN FUTURE STUDIES

14. Conclusion
The Future
1. Easier and more natural way to attach lip balm to gum
“How do I put on the lip balm if its attached to gum?”
2. Match frequency of use
“I’ll chew through this pack in two days”
3. Does SPF lip balm use translate to SPF sunscreen use?
“This probably wouldn’t encourage me to wear
sunscreen because I just don’t get burned”

15. Conclusion
Summary
A well-timed physical trigger (gum/mints) and
tasteful but funny facebook photo tagging led
to the beginning of what could be true habit
formation in the application of SPF lip balm.
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